Guy cable with means for adjusting tension



p 1968 P. B. LETTUNICH 3,402,518

GUY CABLE WITH MEANS FOR ADJUSTING TENSION Filed March 10, 1966 INVENTOR PETE}? 5. 5 TTUN/CH ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,402,518 GUY CABLE WITH MEANS FQR ADJUSTING TENSION Peter B. Lettunich, 13 Longview Drive, Watsonville, Calif. 95076 Filed Mar. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 533,317 7 Claims. (Cl. 52-149) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A safety pull for placing a guy cable or the like under tension, comprising a tubular body fitted with closures at its upper and lower ends. A threaded rod extends through a threaded bore in the lower closure, and is adapted for connection to an anchor block. The inner, threaded end of a shaft extends through a bore in the upper closure, the outer end of the shaft having means thereon for connecting a cable thereto. Means defining a stop shoulder is carried on the threaded shaft portion interiorly of the tubular body, and a nut is carried on said shaft exteriorly of the upper closure and is cooperable with the stop shoulder to clamp the shaft to the closure.

This invention relates generally to a safety pull for connection with a guy cable or the like, designed to be readily visible, and to minimize injury to any object, animate or inanimate, colliding therewith. More particularly, it relates to a safety 'pull designed to utilize readily available components for easy fabrication at low cost, and which includes means for tightening a guy cable with which it is connected.

Electric and telephone utility poles are frequently braced by one or more guy cable assemblies to secure them in an erect position. Cables utilized for this purpose =are usually substantially less than one inch in diameter, and are installed to extend under tension between a bracket near the top of a pole and a dead man or anchor buried in the earth at a point several feet from the base of the pole. If a person or animal, especially while runnirig, should collide with such a thin, tensioned guy cable, serious injury can result. The small diameter of such cables frequently make them diflicult to see, and thus increases the possibility of collision therewith.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a safety pull for installation between a buried dead man and the lower end of a guy cable, including an elongated tubular body having an external diameter such that when installed it will be readily visible to a person or animal in the vicinity thereof, and so that injury to an animate or inanimate object colliding therewith will be minimal.

Another object is to provide a safety pull utilizing for its construction conventional pipe, pipe caps, threaded rods, nuts and washers, and which hence can be fabricated easily and at low cost.

A further object is toprovide a safety pull operable to place and maintain tension on a guy cable with which it is connected.

Still another object is to provide a safety pull which can be easily constructed in any desired length, and which is adjustable in length while connected between a buried dead man and the lower end of a guy cable.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of the invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an erected utility pole, a buried dead man, and a guy cable arrangement for bracing the pole, the latter including the safety pull of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is an anlarged sectional view through the safety pull, taken-along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, showing the construction thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, an erected utility pole is indicated at 2 with the lower end thereof buried in the earth 4, the pole being braced 'by a guy cable assembly 6 which includes a dead man or anchor 8 buried in the earth 4 at a distance of several feet from the base of the pole. The dead man 8 will typically consist of an elongated block of concrete, either cast in situ, or precast and then buried in the desired location.

The upper end of the pole 2 has a transverse 'bore 10 therethrough, in which is mounted a cable-securing bracket comprising a bolt 12 having an eye 14 on the head end thereof. The upper end of a cable 16 is looped through the eye 14 of the bolt 12, and is then secured to the body of the cable by a 'shuitable clamp 18. The lower end of the cable 16 is connected to the upper end of the safety pull 20 of the invention, the lower end of said safety pull being secured to the buried dead man 8.

The safety pull 29 includes a tubular body 22, which comprises a suitable length of conventional galvanized or other pipe externally threaded at its upper and lower ends 24 and 26, respectively, with conventional tapered pipe threads. While the length of the tubular body 22 can be selected to suit a specific installation, it should be several feet long so that when installed it will extend vertically sufliciently to provide adequate protection to a person or animal, or other object, that might be expected to come in contact therewith. One purpose for the tubular body 22 is to make the guy cable assembly 6 readily visible to a person or an animal in the vicinity thereof, and another purpose is to provide a relatively large, rounded external surface that will prevent, or at least minimize injury to any animate or inanimate object colliding therewith. To satisfy these purposes, the length of pipe from which the tubular body 22 is made should have an internal diameter of at least 1 /2 to 2 inches.

The upper and lower ends 24 and 26 of the tubular body 22 are fitted with conventional pipe caps 28 and 30, respectively. The lower pipe cap 30 includes a cylindrical body 32 closed at one end thereof by a wall 34, and having an internally threaded annular flange 36 at its opposite end. The cap 30 is threaded tightly on the lower end 26 of the tubular body 22, and the end wall 34 thereof has a centrally positioned bore 33 therethrough aligned with the longitudinal axis of the body 22. If desired, the lower pipe cap 30 can be welded to the tubular 'body 22 to ensure that it will remain in position thereon.

A nut 40 is welded to the exterior of the end wall 34 about the bore 33, to provide the pipe cap 30 with a threaded bore aligned with the bore 38. The upper or inner portion of a threaded anchor rod 42 extends through the nut 40 and the bore 38, the bore 38 having a diameter greater than that of said rod. The lower or outer end of the anchor rod 42 is secured to the buried dead man 8 against both axial and rotational movement, and thus by turning the tubular body 22 the position thereof can be adjusted along the length of said rod. A nut 44 is welded to the upper or inner end of the threaded anchor rod 42 to provide a positive stop, so that the tubular body 22 with its attached pipe cap 30 cannot be disengaged from said rod.

1f the anchor rod 42 is relatively short it preferably is threaded throughout its length, and the stop nut 44 is initially welded to the upper end thereof. The lower pipe cap 30 is then installed on the anchor rod 42 by inserting the lower, threaded end of the rod through the nut 40 from the interior of said cap. Thereafter, the lower end of the anchor rod 42 can be secured to the dead man 8, either during casting thereof in situ, or if such is preformed, during its manufacture.

Alternatively, only the upper or inner portion of the anchor rod 42 need be threaded. In this instance the lower pipe cap 30 is first threaded on the anchor rod 42, after which the stop nut 44 is installed and welded in place. This arrangement is especially suited to those instances where the anchor rod 42 is several feet in length.

The upper pipe cap 28 includes a cylindrical body 46 closed at one end by a wall 48, and having an internally threaded annular flange 50 at its opposite end. The pipe cap 28 is tightly threaded on the upper end 24 of the tubular body 22, and the end wall 48 thereof has a cenrally positioned bore or opening 52 therethrough aligned with the longitudinal axis of the body 22.

A bracket 54 is attached to the upper pipe cap 28, and includes a threaded shaft 56. The inner or lower portion of the shaft 56 extends through the opening 52, the opening being substantially larger in diameter than said shaft. A nut 58 and a Washer 60 are positioned on the shaft 56 exteriorly of the pipe cap 28, and a pair of lock nuts 62 and a washer 64 are positioned on the portion of said shaft 56 received within the tubular body 22. The lock nuts 62 define a stop shoulder which prevents the shaft -6 from being withdrawn from the opening 52, and are positioned on the shaft 56 so that the outer end of the shaft projects to the desired extent beyond the end cap 28. The shaft 56 can be firmly secured to the end cap 28 by tightening the nut 58 to clamp the cap end wall 48 between the washers 64 and 60.

The bracket 54 further includes a pair of rods 66, the straight inner ends 68 of which are welded to the opposite sides of the outer end 70 of the shaft 56. The outer portions of the rods 66 are formed into loops 72, disposed to lie in a common plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the shaft 56. The lower end of the cable 16 is passed through the loops '72, and. is then secured to the main body of the cable by a clamp 74.

The assembled safety pull 20 is installed in the following manner. The dead man 8, with its attached anchor rod 42, is first installed at the desired location in the earth 4, and the tubular body 22 is then threaded upwardly on the rod 42 until the inner surface of the end wall 34 of the lower cap 36 is positioned near the stop nut 44. The upper end of the cable 16 is secured to the eye 14 carried by the bolt 12, and the lower end thereof is then connected with the bracket 54.

With the upper pipe cap 28 removed from the tubular body 22, the lock nuts 62 are positioned on the threaded shaft 56 so that when the cap 28 is mounted on the body 22 the lower end of the cable 16 can be easily passed through the loops 72 and secured by the clamp 74. The upper pipe cap 28 is then installed on, the tubular body 22, and the lower end of the cable 16 is connected to the bracket 54. The nut 58 is loosened at this point, so that the shaft 56 is free to revolve relative to the tubular body 22.

The tubular body 22 is then turned to thread it downwardly on the anchor rod 42, the loosened nut 58 allowing said body to turn relative to the shaft 56 and hence without twisting the cable 16. Downward threading of the body 22 is continued until the cable 16 is placed under the desired tension, and the nut 58 is then tightened to secure the shaft 56 to the pipe cap 28 against rotation relative to the tubular body 22. The tubular body 22 cannot thereafter be rotated without twisting the cable 16, and because the tensioned cable 16 offers considerable resistance to any twisting thereof, the tubular body is effectively prevented from turning relative to the threaded rod 42. Tension will therefore be maintained on the cable 16, thus securely bracing the pole 2. The safety pull 20 can obviously be disassembled from the guy cable assembly 6 by reversing the above procedure.

When installed in the guy cable assembly 6 the safety pull 20 will be readily visible to a person or animal in the vicinity thereof, and the rounded exterior surface of the relatively large diameter tubular body 22 will tend to minimize injury to anything colliding therewith. The inner ends of the rod 42 and of the shaft 56 are housed by the tubular body 22, and hence offer no dangerous projections that might cause injury. Further, the various components of the safety pull 20 are standard items, and the pull can be easily fabricated at low cost. It is thus seen that the ojects set forth for the invention are all fulfilled thereby.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as has been shown and described.

I claim:

1. A safety pull, comprising: a tubular body; first closure means secured to one end of said tubular body, and having a threaded bore therethrough extending axially of said body; a rod, the inner portion of said rod being threaded and extending through said threaded bore into said tubular body, and the outer end thereof being adapted for connecting to anchor means; second closure means secured to the other end of said tubular body, and having an opening therethrough extending axially of said body; a shaft, the inner portion of said shaft extending through said opening into said tubular body and being threaded; means on the outer end of said shaft for connecting a cable thereto; and means operable for securing said shaft to said second closure means, comprising: means on said threaded shaft portion interiorly of said second closure means defining a stop shoulder for preventing withdrawal of said shaft portion through said opening; and a nut threaded on said threaded shaft portion exteriorly of said second closure means, said nut being engageable with said second closure means to clamp the same against said stop shoulder for securing said shaft against both rotational and axial movement relative to said second closure means.

2. A safety pull as recited in claim 1, wherein said means defining a stop shoulder on said threaded shaft portion comprises a pair of nuts threaded thereon.

3. A safety pull as recited in claim 1, wherein said tubular body comprises a length of pipe exteriorly threaded at its opposite ends, and wherein said first and said second closure means comprise pipe caps receivable on said threaded pipe ends.

4. In combination: a pole, said pole being erected with the lower end thereof buried in the earth; a dead man buried in the earth at a position spaced from the base of said pole; a guy cable, the upper end thereof being attached to the upper portion of said pole; and a safety pull, the lower end of said safety pull being connected to said dead man and the upper end thereof being connected with the lower end of said cable, said safety pull comprising: a tubular body having an external diameter substantially greater than that of said cable; first closure means secured to the lower end of said body, and having a threaded bore therethrough extending axially of said body; a rod, the lower end of said rod being secured to said dead man against both rotational and axial movement, and the upper end thereof being threaded and extending through said threaded bore into said tubular body and being threaded; means on the outer end of said said body, and having an opening therethrough extending axially of said body; a shaft, the inner portion of said shaft extending through said opening into said tubular body and being threaded; means on the other end of said shaft connecting the lower end of said cable thereto; and means operable for securing said shaft to said second closure means, said securing means being constructed and arranged so that in a first position thereof said shaft is secured to said second closure means against both axial and rotational movement relative thereto, and so that in a second position thereof said shaft can be rotated relative to said second closure means While being secured against axial separation therefrom, whereby when said securing 5 means is in said second position said tubular body can be threaded downwardly on said rod to place tension on said guy cable, said securing means comprising: a pair of nuts on said threaded inner shaft portion, interiorly of said second closure means; and a nut on said threaded shaft portion, exteriorly of said second closure means.

5. The combination recited in claim 4, including stop means on the inner end of said rod to prevent axial separation of said rod from said first closure means.

6. The combination recited in claim 4, wherein said tubular body comprises a length of pipe exteriorly threaded at its opposite ends, and wherein said first and said second closure means comprise threaded pipe caps receivable on said threaded pipe ends.

445,625 2/ 1 891 Williams 28760 1,003,355 9/1911 Green 28761 1,802,373 12/1926 Byers 52-149 2,128,030 9/1937 Koleno 52-148 2,719,741 6/1951 Buvelot 28759 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. CHARLES W. ISAACS, Assistant Examiner. 

